Catalogue Note

Frederic Remington was determined to become a successful artist and by 1886, after submitting illustrations to Harper’s Weekly, he was selected for an assignment in Arizona, joining the United States government on a military expedition. It was his first formal job as an illustrator and set the course for his continued success and his affinity for the genre.

In 1888 Remington was sent to Arizona again, this time hired by Century Magazine. Upon completion of a two-week scout through the region that summer, he visited the Indian territories of Fort Sill and Fort Reno. Remington was especially interested in the equestrian habits of the Indians who lived in the region and marveled at their skills as riders and their expertise in breeding what he called, “some of the most beautiful ‘painted’ ponies imaginable” (as quoted in B. Bryon Price, et al., Frederic Remington: A Catalogue Raisonné II, Norman, Oklahoma, 2016, p. 110). This subject matter became synonymous with Remington as an illustrator and painter. These intimate portraits convey the symbiotic relationship between man and horse, and the characters that permeated the American west.

Untitled (Indian on Horse) is a testament to the equestrian spirit of the Indians Remington witnessed on the reservation. The artist drafts the central figure and his horse in expert detail. The Comanche tribesman wears traditional garments, which are richly colored in contrast against the dark coat of the horse. Anatomically, the horse is modeled in naturalistic detail and it is here we see evidence of Remington’s early skills in the genre. The rider’s cowboy-style saddle is exact in its rendering, an element that fascinated the artist who mused in subsequent articles for Century Magazine on the riding gear that the Indians adapted and adorned with their personal touches. An Indian village can be gleaned in the distance of the composition, as the two figure’s ride through the grassy expanse of the Indian territory. Remington’s gentle treatment of the landscape provides a picturesque quality to this distinguished portrait.

Untitled (Indian and Horse) is one among a number of equestrian portraits the artist produced after his pilgrimage to the region. As the inscription indicates, the present work was executed on the site of Fort Sill reservation, now modern-day Oklahoma, in 1889. The central Indian figure appears to be the same model represented in other examples from this series, while the horses and their markings were unique to each portrait, the landscape subject matter in background was similarly varied with each example. A near identical gouache on paper titled A Comanche (Fig. 1) can be found in the collection of the Frederic Remington Art Museum in Ogdensburg, New York.

The present work was unknown to Remington scholars, having initially been gifted by the artist's wife to a private collector where it has descended in the family since.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes, Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
This work has been restored and should be hung in its current state. The canvas is glued to a piece of Masonite, which is backed with linen and mounted onto the original stretcher. The texture of the paint layer is unaffected by this support. The paint layer is clean and varnished. There is one area of retouching, which encompasses the saddle in front of the figure, his hips and his hands. This restoration is presumably the reason for the mounting. The picture is otherwise in beautiful condition with no abrasion or weakness.In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.